Real Estate Information Archive

Home prices continue to point to a sustained and expanding housing recovery.

On that front, the National Association of Realtors reports that prices for single-family homes rose in 81% of U.S. cities. What's more, prices are not only rising, they are rising at a higher rate. NAR's data show the national median price for an existing single-family home rose to $186,100 in the third quarter, a 7.6% increase over the third quarter of 2011.

We've pointed out in the recent past that the good news on pricing isn't emanating from only a few sources; it's emanating from nearly all sources.

The NAR's good news on home prices is supported by CoreLogic and Trulia. CoreLogic's data show that home prices rose 5% year over year in September, posting the biggest increase since July 2006. Trulia's data show that home prices rose 2.9% year over year and 0.7% month over month in October.

This up trend in home prices is a strong selling point to clients, as is the prospect of a diminishing inventory of value-priced properties.

This time last year, we reasoned that homes were priced to produce outstanding long-term appreciation. That's turning out to be the case, but it may not be the case for long. Many homes are still priced to produce superior price appreciation, but there are certainly fewer of these homes on the market today compared to last year.

The reduction in distressed prices and value-priced inventory is attributable to the shrinking supply of distressed properties. The inventory of REO properties owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA continues to decline, and will likely continue to do so in 2013.

An important, but frequently overlooked, demographic trend leads us to believe there will be no backsliding on rising prices and reduced value-priced inventory.

Census Bureau data show new households are being formed at the fastest rate in more than six years. T he United States added 1.15 million households in the 12 months that ended in September. That's a significant increase over the past four years, when an average of 650,000 households were formed annually.

Rising household formation means consumer confidence is also rising, as is confidence in the economy and job prospects. These factors translate to rising home demand and continually rising home prices.

Mortgage rates, on the other hand, continue to buck the trend; they're not rising. Though not moving materially lower in recent weeks, mortgage rates still don't show any inclination to move higher. Given the election results and slowing economic growth in Europe, we don't expect them to move materially higher, for at least the remainder of the year.

The four-year extension of the Obama administration means an extension of Ben Bernanke's reign as Federal Reserve chairman, and an extension of his low-interest rate policies. Across the Atlantic, slowing economic growth in Europe means more money will flow into haven investments like U.S. Treasury notes and bonds and agency securities, such as mortgage-backed securities.

Money flows from the Federal Reserve and private European investors into U.S. government securities ensure mortgage rates will remain low, at least for the near term.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Hurricane Sandy swept through 12 U.S. states this past week, causing wide-spread flooding and an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion in potential losses, according to research firm Capital Economics. That means a lot of money will be earmarked toward home repairs and new-home construction. Some commentators have viewed this as a silver lining.

To be sure, more money spent on housing will help the housing sector, but there is an unseen and a frequently neglected opportunity cost: Money spent on housing is money that could have been spent elsewhere. A natural disaster means money must be spent to replace what already existed; that's money that could have been spent on other goods or services or investments.

This lost opportunity to spend elsewhere is what the 19 th century French economist Frederic Bastiat referred to as “the unseen.” Yes, we can see more money being spent on housing, but we can't see where it would have been spent had there been no hurricane.

In other words, Hurricane Sandy will provide a boost to housing, which is our gain, but that doesn't translate into a boost to the overall economy because of the lost opportunity to spend elsewhere.

The point we want to emphasis is that it's always worth considering Bastiat's the unseen. The seen in housing is improving sales and pricing, but the unseen is what the housing recovery could be if it were unhampered by the exclusion of unfunded qualified borrowers. This unseen is our loss.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

“Dog bites man” has been a leading theme as we head toward 2013. By that, we mean we continually report on improving home prices; to the point where home prices are almost no longer longer news.

We say “almost,” because after years of reporting on falling prices, we still have a ways to go on the upside to balance the scales.

The latest price data from S&P/Case-Shiller added more weight to the rising-price side. Case-Shiller's data show home prices edged up 0.9% month-over-month in August for 19 of the 20 cities it follows. Case-Shiller's data continue to affirm the positive price-trend data issued by other popular pricing providers, such as Zillow, Fiserv, and CoreLogic.

Speaking of CoreLogic, its latest data release shows continued improvement in distressed properties. CoreLogic reports that completed foreclosures posted at 57,000 in September, down from 83,000 a year earlier and slightly lower than the 59,000 foreclosures reported in August. Improved pricing and greater demand, which have enabled more short sales, are allowing more underwater borrowers to escape their obligation without foreclosure.

The downward trend in foreclosures, along with a gradual clearing of the shadow inventory and rising home price, leave little doubt that we are in the midst of wide-spread housing recovery.

Of course, ulta-low mortgage lending rates have aided the recovery in no small measure. Rates today continue to hold their lows (though they haven't been setting new lows lately).

Today, the concern, if not the lament, among housing-market participants is credit availability. Last week, we reported on the Mortgage Bankers Association lament that too many qualified borrowers are not getting their loan. Overly strict lending standards, in short, are retarding the speed of the housing recovery.

Most of us know that credit availability is a chief concern among first-time home buyers, many of whom lack strong credit scores or large down payments. This segment usually constitutes 45% of the overall home-buying market, but today it's down to 32%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

There is still too much uncertainty in the market for lenders to venture farther out on the risk curve. Impending new regulations have lenders understandably nervous. The new regulations will determine risk held by lenders, as well as down payment required for borrowers.

To be sure, we need to balance regulation with access to credit, but that's a fine balancing act. What's more, it's not a constant act. The system must be sufficiently flexible to meet market demand.

The good news is that the purse strings show signs of loosening. A recent survey by the Federal Reserve shows that banks, on net, are reporting easing lending standards. (The survey encompasses all forms of credit, not just mortgage.)

We think we will see a less restrictive mortgage market in 2013. Economic growth and job creation are expected to improve next year. An improving economy leads to more liberal lending policies and more accommodating regulation.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a thing for housing. Most of the Fed's monetary policies over the past three years have focused on re-igniting the housing market.

Whether through Fed policy or market forces, a flame has taken hold. The new home market is becoming a driving force behind economic growth. To that end, sales of new homes rose 5.7% in September to an annualized rate of 389,000 units. This latest increase puts the market back to March 2010 sales levels. Back then, sales were propped up by federal home-buyer tax credits.

Supply of new homes, at a mere 4.5 months, is tight. Tight supply, along with increased demand, has pushed the national median sales price up 11.7% year over year to $242,400. Couple increased demand with higher prices and we get more home construction down the road.

More construction is good news for the economy. Residential real estate investment has historically averaged 5% of GDP, while housing services have averaged between 12% and 13%, for a combined 17% to 18% of GDP. We're still not close to that level today. Despite the strong gains in new-home sales, 2012 will be the third or fourth lowest sales year since 1963. That means there is still a lot of upside potential in this market.

Current sales and construction trends point to a strong new-home market in 2013. The spill-over effect to the overall economy points to stronger economic growth.

Mortgage lending rates on all this new home construction, as well as on existing homes and refinances, continue to hold their multi-decade lows. More important, purchase applications have taken measurable strides forward in the past month.

We still don't see mortgage rates rising materially in the near future (and we don't see them falling materially lower either). For this, we can thank the Federal Reserve.

The Fed remains committed to buying $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities each month, which creates demand for mortgage loans on the secondary market. What's more, the Fed is committed to purchasing these securities in the same monthly amounts through 2013. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) estimates the Fed will be purchasing nearly 50% of all mortgage originations by the end of next year.

The point we want to emphasis is that mortgage lending rates will have a tough time moving higher. Notice we say “tough,” not impossible. If the trend in new-home construction and sales continues, the economy will grow, and it could grow at a quicker pace than the Fed governors anticipate. Higher economic growth leads to higher interest rates.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Home Builders are a lot more optimistic these days. In fact, the latest home builder sentiment index posted at 41 for October – the highest posting in nearly six years.

More interested buyers are driving optimism. The traffic component of the home builder index jumped sharply this month, posting at 35 – the highest level since the boom days of 2006.

Rising builder optimism coupled with rising buyer demand is spurring a surge in building activity. September home starts rose strongly to an annual rate of 872,000 units. This is a 16.3% increase over the annual rate posted in August. The multifamily component spiked 25.1%, but the more important single-family component was up 11%, which means it has recovered to mid-2008 levels.

The good news is the housing market is much healthier today than it was in 2008. Back then, we suspected the market was worsening, but we didn't realize how bad it would get. Going from a top to a bottom is painful, because expectations are much higher at a top than at a bottom. Going from a bottom to a top tends not to arouse much emotion, but it does tend to be very remunerative over the long term.

Today, the market is firming up nicely; mainly because we are aware of the issues and dealing with them rationally.

Distressed properties is one of those issues. We've spoken at length on the shift to short sales from foreclosures. Calculatedriskblog.com reports on how dramatic the shift has been. In Las Vegas, short sales are now three times foreclosures. In Phoenix and Sacramento, short sales outpace foreclosures by a two-to-one margin. Moreover, the overall percentage of distressed sales is down year over year in most major markets.

That said, inventory could be the sand that grinds the recovery gears. Existing home sales have been hindered in recent months due to lack of inventory. (Hard to believe that most pundits were forecasting that too much inventory would be an issue in 2012.) For-sale inventories declined on a year-over-year basis in 143 of the 146 markets tracked by Realtor.com. Fifty two cities saw year-over-year declines greater than 20%.

We don't expect inventory to be a lasting issue, though. As home prices continue to rise, more inventory will be drawn into the market.

Falling mortgage lending rates have also contributed to rising home-buyer interest. It's no coincidence that purchase applications have moved inversely with lending rates: as lending rates have fallen, purchase applications have risen. As long as the Federal Reserve continues to buy mortgage-backed securities, lending rates should continue to hold today's low levels.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

The most recent employment report showed the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8% and job growth posted at a higher-than-expected 114,000 new jobs in September. Is this the start of a new trend?

It might be.

Data compiled by Bill McBride at Calculatedriskblog show a strong correlation between housing construction and job growth. It appears the two variables are correlated, but with a lag of about 12 to 18 months. As home construction goes employment eventually follows.

If past proves to be prologue, we could see significant improvement in employment in 2013.

The question, though, is past really prologue? Possibly not. The unemployment rate has already been maintaining an inverse pace with single-family construction for much of the past 18 months.

But this time it really is different: In 2010 and 2011, we were ascending out of deep recession and housing was suffering with excessive inventory. During that time, job growth was being driven by other economic sectors. Now, with housing construction recovering strongly, this sector will contribute more to job growth going forward.

More housing construction will lead to more jobs and more household formation. Therefore, we think 2013 will be a good year for housing and overall economic growth. Stronger economic growth, in turn, will lead to rising home prices and possibly rising mortgage lending rates. That's something all fence-sitters should keep in mind if they think better deals reside over the horizon.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

There is an old financial axiom known to many investors, and that is “Don't Fight the Fed.” This means when the Federal Reserve sets out on a course of action it's often remunerative to tag along.

The Fed has openly and unabashedly set out on a course to get residential real estate prices moving higher. To that end, the Fed has stated it will continue to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) at a rate of $40 billion a month. These purchases ensure a market for low-rate securities, and thus ensures mortgage lending rates will remain low. In fact, analysts at Deutsche Bank estimate these purchases will hold lending rates about 50 basis points lower than they would otherwise be.

Concurrently, the Fed is purchasing these MBS with new money. This means consumer prices, including home prices, will be pressured to rise (more money will be chasing the same amount of goods and services). Therefore, we are very bullish on home prices rising over the next five years just based on price inflation alone (though we also expect fundamentals to continue to improve).

We can't think of a better time to buy a home, and to buy with mortgage financing. Low-cost leverage, which a mortgage provides, means the return on investment will be much higher on invested funds than with a full cash purchase.

What's more, buyers will also have the benefit of amortizing their loans with depreciated dollars.In short, there is no reason for anyone interested in residential real estate not to take the plunge today.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

At the beginning of the year, we were in the minority: we thought 2012 would see improving home prices in more metropolitan markets across the country.

We've been surprised on the price front, and delightfully so, because we didn't expect the price recovery to be as pervasive and as strong as it has been. What's more, the data on pricing continue to point to higher home prices in even more markets.

Indeed, CoreLogic's Pending Home Price Index for August shows that home prices rose 4.6% year over year, posting the biggest annual increase since 2006. Looking at monthly data, August posted a 0.3% increase over July, which marks the six-consecutive monthly increase.

Additional price data from Trulia show that asking prices on for-sale homes – which lead sales prices by approximately two months – increased 2.5% year over year in September and 0.5% compared to August. According to Trulia, 2012 will see an annual increase in asking prices for the first time in six years. Trulia’s Chief Economist Jed Kolko says, “Right now, prices are recovering across the country, with few local markets left behind.” Our own empirical observations confirm Mr. Kolko's conclusion.

We've been watching one particular market with keen anticipation all year, and that's Las Vegas. We knew that it would be only a matter of time before a recovery took hold. It appears the wait is finally ended. Clear Capital's data show home prices in Las Vegas increased 8% in September. What's more, Clear Capital expects Las Vegas home prices to increase another 9.5% over the next six months.

One of our more-frequent refrains over the past two years is that markets eventually clear. Lower prices always stimulate demand. Higher demand, in turn, stimulates higher prices. Thankfully, the market is finally clearing in beleaguered Las Vegas.

We expect to see home prices in Las Vegas and in many other large metropolitan markets to continue to improve in coming years. We are not alone in this prognostication. Analysts at Goldman Sachs released a research note this week that projects continued price improvement. What's more, Goldman expects higher home prices even in its downside scenario.

So, we have a market of rising home prices and a market of falling lending rates. In fact, mortgage lending rates were down again this past week. Lower rates have stimulated another surge in refinances. More encouraging, lower rates have aroused more purchase-application activity.

We look forward to even more purchase-application activity. Rising home prices mean less negative equity. Less negative equity, in turn, means more people will be in a position to sell without bringing additional funds to the table.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

The problem with home-price data issued by S&P/Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is that it's two-months in arrears. In today's age of instantaneous everything, two months can seem like an eternity.

Truth be told, other price-data providers – Trulia, CoreLogic, Zillow – are more current with their releases, which is why we tend to downplay the price data issued by Case-Shiller and FHFA.

That said, Case-Shiller and the FHFA have street cred among many market watchers, so they're findings are worth mentioning, especially when they continue to support the previously released data from other price providers.

Most of the previously released data already show that home prices trended higher, though at a slower pace, in July and August; therefore, we weren't surprised to see that Case-Shiller's and the FHFA's data also show prices trending higher but at a slower pace in July. Case-Shiller reported that prices increased for a sixth-consecutive month at a 0.4% rate in its 20-city index; FHFA's index showed prices increased 0.2%.

Rising prices have taken some of the steam out of new-home sales, which slipped 0.3% in August. Home builders might have sold fewer homes for the month, but the homes they did sell were fetching a far higher price. The average price for a new home was up a whopping 9.1% to $295,300 for August, which pushed the year-over-year rate of increase up to 13.9%.

We now see that the average price for a new home has risen to mid-2008 levels.

We don't expect the price trend to reverse either. Supply remains at an ultra-low level at only 141,000 homes for sale. Low supply will keep prices elevated while at the same time encourage home builders to start new projects (thus contributing to economic growth). In fact, housing starts are now at a level unseen in four years.

There is another positive to rising home prices, and that's rising levels of equity. Of course, that doesn't apply to new home, but existing home sales have also risen in 2012. In fact, they've risen to the point that economists at Deutsche Bank calculate that home equity grew by $827 billion over the past four reported quarters (ending with the second quarter of 2012.)

Rising levels of home equity means less negative equity and more consumers who are able to buy and sell a home. It also means fewer mortgage defaults; fewer borrowers default when they find themselves in a positive-equity position.

The above graph also highlights the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which hit a new all-time low this past week. A number of factors contributed to the rate drop: Gross domestic product being unexpectedly revised down to 1.3% from 1.7% for the second quarter was a leading factor.

The Federal Reserve's purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) was another. Earlier this month, the Fed announced it would step up purchases of these security. The impact on mortgage lending rates has been immediate. Moreover, as long as the Fed continues to purchase these securities, and it has promised to purchase up to $40 billion a month, it appears unlikely that rates will move materially higher anytime soon.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Last week, we broached the possibility that the residential rental real estate market could be forming a bubble. We found it interesting, even if it were only coincidental, that the the Wall Street Journal ran a piece this week on institutions piling into single-family residential rental real estate.

The Journal article featured a private-equity firm, Colony Capital, that has been buying single-family homes, refurbishing them, and then renting them. Colony has accumulated 3,600 homes, most purchased out of foreclosure. Business, so far, has been remunerative.

Colony Capital isn't the only institutional player in single-family rentals. According to investment bank Jefferies & Co., big private-equity players Blackstone Group, Och-Ziff Capital Management, and Oaktree Capital have raised more than $8 billion to buy houses, which they plan to refurbish and rent.

This flood of institutional investor money into the single-family rental market is a big reason we are less concerned about distressed shadow inventory than most market observers. A lot of demand has developed to soak up supply. Over time, that supply will continue to dwindle.

The trend in multi-family residential rentals is also revealing. Data from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) show money flowing freely into this market as well. In fact, REITs that focus on multi-family residential properties have been some of the best performers in the real estate segment over the past year.

The point we want to emphasis is that investors and market watchers should become more alert when markets heat up – and the rental real estate market is certainly heating up. More risk resides in the hot market, because the hot market doesn't stay hot forever. We reported a couple week ago that rents, which have been on a tear the past two years, are already showing signs of slowing. Trulia's data show rents rose 4.7% in August from a year ago, but that growth is lower than the 5.8% year-over-year growth reported in May.

We obviously can't say for sure if a bubble is forming in the residential rental market, but we can say the bullish sentiment is starting to sound like the sentiment that prevailed in the single-family purchase market circa 2004.

There is another reason we should maintain our perspective on rentals: People still prefer to own their own home, which is why we expect to see sustained growth in the owner-occupied market over the next couple years.

Risk aversion is the impediment to more owner-occupied activity. The financial firm Redwood Trust recently issued a private jumbo mortgage-backed security. The security was backed by mortgages with an average FICO score of 771 and a loan-to-value ratio of 67%. Such issues have been the norm in recent years.

We'd like to see more investor interest in more speculative mortgage-backed securities. More interest in more speculative issues would indicate more risk taking by investors and a more liquid, more inclusive lending environment.

Courtesy of Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.